Skeleton Letters: A Scrapbooking Mystery

The theft of a religious icon from New Orleans’ St. Tristan’s church leads to murder in Childs’s disappointing ninth Scrapbooking mystery (after 2010’s Fiber & Brimstone). Carmela Bertrand, the proprietor of the scrapbooking shop Memory Mine, and her friend Ava Gruiex happen to be in St. Tristan’s when the mayhem begins, and they know the victim, so Carmela soon agrees to investigate when another friend begs her to do so. Carmela’s boyfriend, homicide detective Edgar Babcock, asks her to stay out of it, but she ignores him and sets out with Ava to look for suspects. A good deal of scrapbooking and other design activity are included along with the sleuthing, but they’re not enough to save the story. Carmela and Ava engage in some very dumb behavior; Babcock is completely ineffectual; dialogue is often trite; and, when the murderer is revealed, the reason behind it all is silly. (Oct.)